Dollar/yen trading was thin with both Japanese andAustralian share and currency markets closed for the new year holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 2.3 percent to 17,354.9in late trade. And Singapore's Straits Times Index was up 2.8 percent to 2,548.27.

The Bombay Stock Exchange also surged to an all-time highwith shares across the board registering gains and several information technology shares up the eight percent circuit breaker limit. By 0749 GMT, the top-30 share Bombay exchange index was up6.4 percent to 5,326.3. The National exchange index was up over seven percent to 1,585.95.

"A very exciting start to the new year," said SangeetaPurushottam, head of research, SG Asia Securities. Malaysia's main share index was up 2.6 percent by 0750 GMT- above the key 830-point level. "The market is reacting to the Y2K thing," said Amin Manap,senior analyst at Mohaiyani Securities. "There were no glitches, so there is positive reaction."

Some had feared the year 2000 (Y2K) bug would crashcomputers and trading systems around the world after 1999 rolled over to 2000 because a programming shortcut in older systems could have led them to interpret the last two zeros in 2000 as 1900.

The widely watched Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) said onMonday that a re-test of its trading, settlement, delivery and information network systems for Y2K-related problems uncovered no errors, after previous tests showed errors at some companies. The Monday tests consisted of sending data to some 20companies, 12 of which on Sunday had found errors on terminals that used an internal administrative data processing system developed by Nomura Research Institute, a TSE spokesman said.

The lack of major Y2K problems so far has been a relief tomarkets, but has lead some to wonder if the bug was truly exterminated or merely a capitalist con to sell more computers, software and services. Philippine shares ended the first trading day of 2000mixed, as investors cashed in on blue-chip gains and picked up smaller issues, brokers said.

The 33-share main index, which previously rose for ninestraight days, ended 1.2 points down at 2,141.77. The Korea Stock Exchange said weekend tests for the Y2K bugfound no problems and exchanges were ready for the year's first day of trading on Tuesday.

"Mock trading of the stock, futures and bond market had noproblems," said Min Kyoung Hoon, the KSE's manager of system development and operations. China's Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges haveexperienced no problems with the Y2K bug in testing so far and trading will resume as scheduled on Tuesday, officials said.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange said trading will resume onTuesday after three days of simulations revealed no Y2K glitches. Y2K mock trading on Monday in Indonesia's Jakarta andSurabaya stock exchanges went without a hitch or a glitch, an official said. Trading resumes on Tuesday.